We are all aware that there are many
respected people in this field that are adamantly against the use of digital
cameras on ghost hunts or research. I have always felt
that digital cameras were useful and my group has been using them in conjunction
with 35mm cameras for years. Digital camera technology
has come a long way since the early days of fuzzy images and white splotches
on photos that some novices confused for spirit photos. I think
that many of those opposed to digital cameras are not necessarily up to
date with these changes in digital camera’s and how they can now be considered
good solid tools for research in this field. I am not discounting
the advantages that 35mm cameras have but there are also a few advantages
the digital cameras have that very few people know about.

One of the main reasons that are mentioned
against the use of digital cameras has always been that there is no negative
to look at to determine what an anomaly is. 35mm negatives
can be useful in analyzing photos more closely. To be honest, most
of the times hat I have to use a negative to review a photo, the false
positive photo was caused by something like dirt in the processing machine,
scratches on the negative, bad film or a processing error.
These things are all avoided with digital cameras. In
some cases negatives can help tell if a photo was faked or not.

People always assume that those of us
that are using digital cameras are doing it only to save money on processing
and film but there are other good reasons to use digital cameras in your
investigations.

Many regular digital cameras produced
today are capable of taking photos on par with 35mm cameras now and there
is something else that most people do not know about digital cameras that
is important. Most digital cameras can also see and take photos
in a limited infrared spectrum of light. We have all seen the
great results that have been obtained with infrared video cameras.
We’ve also obtained good results with infrared motion sensors and IR thermometers.
For years people have obtained good results with infrared film as well.
This infrared capability is built into most digital cameras that people
are using on investigations and I believe that this accounts for the larger
amount of orbs being photographed in recent years.
If you want to test this with your camera take your TV remote and point
it at yourself. Press the on button and you will not see the
light bulb in the tip of the remote light up because it is an infrared
light bulb. If you view the same remote while pressing the on button
through your digital cameras LCD screen or take a photo of it, you will
see the light is illuminated. This proves that your digital
camera can “see” infrared light. When you take a photo with
your digital camera you can actually be captured things in the visible
light and infrared light spectrums. Since we believe
that orbs are composed of energy that exists in the semi infrared range
of light, using digital cameras will give you a better tool and a better
chance of capturing an anomaly.

Just holding the TV remote control
Pressing the on button of the remote

You will not have a negative to scrutinize
but there are many graphics experts that can review your photo to give
an explanation if there are any natural causes for your photos.
We all should also spend more time learning how to pick out false positives
betterthan is currently being
done.

Another advantage, although not as dramatic,
is the ability to follow an energy source or spirit on the move.
If you get an EMF reading and you can get a positive photo in the same
area and then a 2nd positive photo 6ft away you can now know exactly where
to point you meters and thermometers to see if you can also follow the
anomaly with EMF and temperature readings. This is not an option
with a 35mm camera since you don’t know you have a positive photo until
you down the investigation. This instant notice of a
positive photo can help you find hot spots or sources in a location quicker
than before.

I still advocate 35mm cameras but I
feel that it’s time to recognize the advantages of digital cameras and
no longer discount them as worthless in this research field.
The more tools we can use the more information we can gather.
My group uses both types of cameras on our investigations and we’ve found
it only increases our overall results.